Saturating machine and method of using same



l. u. NovAK 2,022,687

SATURATING MACHINE lAND METHOD OF USING SAME Original Filed Oct. 50, 3.933v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 3, 1935.

e a JL?? j A- Dec. 3, 1935.A l. J. NovAK SATURATING MACHINE AND METHOD 0F USING SAME Original File Oct. 30. 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 impregnation.

Patented Dec. 3, 1 935 y UNIT-ED STATES l'aotass'z PATE-NT `ori-ice Application octnber so, 1933, semi No. 695,756

' Renewed February 16, 1935 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for felting fibers and impregnating said felted fibers as part of a single continuous operation, and more particularly refers to a continuous method and apparatus for producingilbrous structures impregnated with desired modifying materials.

'I'he apparatus comprises the combination of a paper making sectionwith an impregnating section, wherein the endless screen or felt of the paper making machine constitutes 'thesupport or wet web with modifying materials suspended or 'dissolved in water before stripping the web from the carrier of the paper making machine.

In one embodiment the paper making machine consists of a conventional Fourdrinier machine,

the Fourdrinier Wire constituting the carrier and support for the newly formed wet web durin In my cci-pending application, Serial No. 681,- 056, I have described the adv-antages and desirability of introducing modifying materials suspended or dissolved in water such as binders, waterproofings, et cetera, into a wet brous, web before substantial drying thereof, and have described a saturating machine therefor, and explained its use'. The s-aturating machine therein shown is a separate machine placed in a conventional paper machine line, and the wet web, after being formed, is threaded from the web forming machine, or from roll presses immediately subsequent thereto, to the saturating machine.

For most types of fibrous webs this arrangement is ideal. However, there are certain types of webs which cannot be threaded, for example, because of their `Weakness while wet, or which,

because of extreme slowness, will not easily and quickly wet up in the saturating liquid if compres-ed or otherwise dried sumciently to be ca- The present invention is directed, therefore, to a process and apparatus whereby those latter (ci. sae-440) types of webs may be impregnated. Briefly, the processgcornprises the 'steps of forming a fibrous web upon the wire or felt of a Fourdrinier or cylinder paper making machine and, passing said web supported by said wire or felt through an 5. impregnating bath, removing the excess impregnating material from the web and veither immediately drying the same in a conventional drier or winding the web into multi-ply sheets upon a make-up roll from which it may be subse- 10 quently cut and stripped. i i

Other objects and advantages of'my invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and following detail description.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side l5 elevational view of the paper making'section of the machine of the present invention.

Fig. 1d is a similar view of the saturating section' of the machine.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic, sectional 20 view of the impregnatingi roll.

Referring in detail to the drawings, I indicates generally a paper making machine of the Fourdrinier type which may be utilized in conjunction with the saturating section 2 to carry out my 25 invention. The section l, although showing an embodiment of a Fourdrinier paper making machine, may take the form of any conventional vpaper making machine and, although not shown,

the impregnated paper web whenpassing from section 2, may be carried to conventional driers as a continuous operation.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, the usual fibrous pulp previously prepared in a conventional type beater (not shown) may be passed to a'stufr chest and mix box (not shown). When the pulp has been diluted with water which will bring the same to the desired consistency, it is passed to head box 3 and from the latter to apron board 4 of the paper making machine proper. 40

The machine I may be provided with the usual breast roll 5, table rolls I, deckle straps 1 and pan 8. A screen 9 may pass around breast roll 5 and over' table rolls 6 in the usual manner. Deckle straps 1 may continuously travel around wheels Iii 45 positioned in spaced relationship upon the machine. Guide rolls v il may serve to support the deckle straps at the upper portion of its travel. The pulp discharged upon apron board 4 from the head box I may be passed to the upper surface of screen 9,A the body of the pulp being coniined by the opposite deckle straps 1. The'screen A inpassing over table rolls 8 permits the passage of the aqueous carrier of the pulp. to pan l thereby causing a depositv of. the brous material upon tained the surface of the-screen. In other words, the

fibrous material is felted into a web of paper. If desired, additional water may be removed from the web upon the`screen by the use of suction boxes I2 which may be positioned beneath the path of travel of wire .9 after it has passed from table rolls 6,y or excess water may be removedy by the use of smoothing` or press rolls I2a.

As a feature of my invention, instead of strip-l ping thebrous web from wire 9 at'the end of the paper making machine, and returning said n wire in endless fashion to breast roll 5, wire 9 continues its travel over guide roll I3, which may be movable in response to movement of nger I l. constituting a portion of a conventional wire guide I5. After passing over roll I3, wire 9 carrying the newly formed web passes directly to the saturating portion 2 of the machine.-

Referring particularly to Fig. 1a, I5 indicates a frame which may be mounted upon wheels I1 movable on tracks I8. A shaft I9 may traversev a. substantial portion of ,frame I6 and may carry at one end thereof bevel gear "2li which, in turn, may mesh with bevel gear 2| carried at the upper extremity of shaft 22. A `bevel gear 23 may be carried `at the lower end ofshaft 22' and may mesh with bevel gear 24 which may be mounted upon shaft 25. Shaft 25 may make operative connection (not` shown) with-wheels I1 whereby frame I6 may be moved along track I8 by manipulating hand wheel 26- mounted upon the endl of shaft I9.

A vat l21 may be mounted at one end of frame ,against roll 4|,can be varied. 1 l

A standard 41 may be mounted upon each side 1 may carry weights 53 which may be adjustable along the length of lever 48. It can readily be seen vthat by varying the position of weights 53 upon lever` '48, the normal Vpressure of roll 52.

Screen 9 carrying the fibrous web'formed ink section I after passing over roll I3, is trained around roll 324 carried by shaftv 3I. "I'he web ILS and may beadapted to contain a quantity y, of the selected permeating or impregnatingmegularly inclinedguide 'rods 29. Bearing blocks 39 may be slldably positioned upon each pair of guide rods 29 and may carry transversely dis- 'posed shaft 3I upon which roll 32 may be mounted. A brace 33 may be mounted at the upper ends of, guide roclsV 29 and may transversely bridge the'opposite pairs of rods. A screw 34 may be rigidlysecured vat pne end to each of the blocks 39, the opposite ends vof said screws being rotatably positioned in brace 33. A worm wheelr 35 having internal threads. not shown, may threadedly engage each screw 34, said worm wheel being rotated by worm gears, not shown,

mounted upon shaft 36. which latter, in turn, v

4 opposite ends of shaft 40 are iournalled. Screen roll 4I may be carried by shaftf49 between blocks 39,` .a portion of said roll'extending within fat 21 and as will be hereinafter more fully described, extending beneath the surface of the liquid conthin said vat. y

.A member 1472 mayybe secured to Vpedestal 33\ -andmayjsupport ar'm 43. rigidly positioned upon said member. A lever 44 m'ay be pivoted at one its length'cleaner roll 45 constructed of relatively soft felt and.. covered with., cloth. A `weight 49 maybe adjustably mounted upon the free end o`f-lever 44,n the adjustment of the position of ,said weightivaryinsv the normal pressure of 4roll .145 ,upomrol'l 4I. Rol145 is adapted.to remove it;

supported by screen 9 maybe passed into the liquid within vat 21, the web being confined by the screenl 9 yand thescreen periphery of `roll 4I. It can readily be seen that by rotating hand wheel 31, shaft'3lgmay be raised., or lowered upon guide rods`29 and, hence, the tension of screen 9 may be increased or decreased therebycontrolling the confining force acting upon the web carried by said screen.

'I'he web carried upon screen 9 after its initial fformationin section I, contains an appreciable quantity of water when leaving said section; The quantity of water in the web at this D stage is dependent upon the final product desired, the type and degree of permeation desired and the ltype of libres constituting said web. As a feature of my present invention by passing the Fourdrinier wire in company with the web through the permeating bath, it is unnecessary to strip the web from the screen as is the case when the Fourdrinier, or paper making machine,

is used as a separate unit. With many types of webs it is substantially impossible to strip. the same from the screen at this period because of structural weaknessesof the web. Furthermore, some types of webs, if relieved of an excessive quantity of moisture, are dimcult to saturate or permeate. Obviously, therefore, inasmuch as it it not necessary to strip the web from 'the wire, the web may be immersed in the saturating bath while it is in a relatively loose condition and is most susceptible to being permeated or saturated, and capable of rapidv distention in the presence of additional liquid. Y

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the physical appearance of web 54 carried upon\ screen 9, is illustrated diagrammatically, before, during and afterits passage through bath 55. Priori to entering bath 55,` web 54 is of predeterminedA thickness and contains a predetermined pportion of 5 water and 'fibrous material. When passed into bath 55, the air existing between the fibers of the web is displaced by Dermeating liquid. No material dimensional change takes place 'due to the connement of theweb between the carrier 9 under tension and screen surface of roll 4I.

As yscreen 9 andfweb 54 leave bath 55 they pass 'between roll 4I and stripper couchl roll 52, said latter roll exerting radialpressure against the former to express some of the `liquid contained end, upon arm 43 and may carry intermediate if' in the web 54. It will be apparent that a quantity of material 55 has replaced some of the water originally in the web. On passing out of the ten- 'sio'nzone into the free saturatlng zone beyond the linebf osculation of rolls`52 and 4I, the web is free to distend in the presence of an excess of the permeating liquid' existing. as apool, as shown 1 A8v it x at ilthrough which theweb passes. passes from the conilnedlne to the I12x-'ceinturating zone, the web increases in thickness, as illustrated, due to the excess permeating' liquid and release from the confined zone.

Pool 51 is used to advantage in several respects. First, the pressure exerted by the stripper couch roll 52 upon web 54 tends to compress said web.

When the web leaves the osculating line of the rolls it tends to expand and thus expanding in the presence of pool 51 induces an additional quantity of material-\55 into the web. j I

Secondly, screen 9 a s d web 54 leave roll 4| at this point and since a po ion of Vpool 55 is above web 54, it assists, by virtue ofsits weight in cleanly stripping webV 54 from the screened surface of roll 4|.

'I'he original relative arrangement of the fibers constituting the web does not change but the liquid'content of the web is increased. The increase in liquid content of the web, .of course, is taken from bath 55 and pool 51 which, as has been herelnbefore described, is a permeating 'or impregnating medium in liquid solution`or suspension.

Screen 9 carrying web 54, after passing from vat 21, is carried over guide roll `58 mounted upon shaft 59 which, in turn, is iournalled in the upper portion of standards 50. The screen and web are thence carried forwardly over roll 8| which comprises a portion of wireguide mechanism 82, said mechanism being operated by movement of finger 53. Wire guides I5 and 52 areof convene tional construction and are familiar to those skilled in the art. Consequently, said mechanisms are shown diagrammatically. After leaving roll 8|, screen 9 in company with web 54 passes over roll 64 mounted upon shaft 65 which, in turn is journalled at the upper portion of Astandards 85. The screen and web after passing over roll 64 passes between roll 61 and roll 88. Roll 88 may be mounted upon shaft 69 which, in turn, is journalled in bearing 10 mounted upon arm 1| Arm 'll may be pivotally mounted at one end of shaft 65. A bracket 12 may be mounted upon the end portion of frame I l5` and may carry,shaft 13. An arm 14- may be pivotally mounted at one end upon shaft 19, the opposite end thereof being free. A tie rod 15f may connect an intermediate portion of arm 14 with the free end of arm 1|, the effective length of said tie rod being adjustable by means of hand wheel 16 which may be manipulated to raise or lower the threaded collar 11 thereby bringing the free end of arm-.1| closer to, or further away from,

arm lil. It can readily be seen that by this lever arrangement the -radial pressure of `roll 68 upon' f roll 6l may be varied by changing the effective length of rod 15, or by adding adjustable weights to the free end of arm or both.

When screen 9 and web 54 pass between rolls 91 and 98, webfEt is squeezed thereby expressing a quantity of :the liquid contained in saidfgweb, comprising water originally in the web prior to passage through the impregnating bath and permeeting orgimpregnating material absorbed in its passage through rvthe bath. After being thus compressed, web 54 has sumcient structural strength tb be stripped from screen 9 and thread- .ed, if desired, into a conventional drier (not shown). Thus, roll 68 serves as a condensing roll to make the impregnated web self-sustaining and capable of being threaded' to the drier. If desired, however, said web, after y'being stripped from screen 9, may be wound upon roll 9B in which case said roll assumes the function of a make-up roll. Inthis latter case the permeated fibrous web may be cut and stripped from roll 88 as a multi-ply structure.

A doctor blade 61a constructed of rubber or micarta may be positioned in contact with roll 81 below the nip of rolls 81 and 68. `Liquid squeezed 5 from the web during its passage between said rolls may flow backwardly over roll 81 and be directed by doctor blade 61a to trough 88a which may slope toward vat 21. This liquid, of course, is diluted with water from lthe web so in order 10 to balance this dilution the saturant or impregnating material orginally introduced into vat 21 purposely made more concentrated than the concentration'deslred. Preferably, the flow off the doctor blade may be mixed with the feed of 15 saturant to the saturating tank as that mixing may take place before the combined saturant enters the saturating tank.

A pan 80 may be positioned immediately beneath rolls 81 and 88 and a pan 19may be dis- 20 posed adjacent said pan 80 and inclined thereto. After stripping web 54 from screen 9,"said screen may be trained around roll 61 and may be passedV over guide roll 8|. Said screenplay then pass beneath sprays 8|a which may be adapted to 25 I clean screen 9, the-wash water being caught by pan 19 and transferredA thereby to vat 88. Vat 80 may be provided with an outlet (not shown) which may lead said wash water to waste. After passing beneath sprays 8Ia, the screen may be 30 carried over pick-up rolls 82 which are adapted to remove bits of fibrous material which may adhere to the screen and to cleanse same. After passing over pick-up rolls 82, said screen may be carried over guide rolls 88, 84, 85, 88 and 81, and 35 beneath another series of showers 88 by which means said screen may be thoroughly cleaned.' A vat 89 may be positioned immediately beneath showers 88 to recover the wash water or other washing medium if desired. After leaving the 40 washing zone, screen 9 may pass tightening rolls 99, 9| and 92. When screen 9 has passed over roll 92 it may be trained around breast roll 5 and again carried forwardly over table rolls 8 in end,- less fashion. y

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the roll at which the formed web ordinarily leavesI the conventional Fourdrinier is made the breast roll of the saturating machine and the Fourdrinier wire web carrier is lengthe'ned so as to pass 50 through the saturating machine and after being cleansed of saturant returns to the leggasi; roll of the Fourdrinier. Thus, the two riifagbhines are combined and one-tiring wire web carrier serves rated wet web. There is no brealr in the supportingl of the web, no need of strength therein nor of reduction of its moisture content to produce .strength suicient for threading it between machines with the attendant reduction of ease of saturation.

The Fourdrnier has been given as the example of web` forming machine, but for. saturants which do not injure woolen felts, the single or multiple cylinder machine may be 'joined with the satu- 65 rating machine in similar fashion, the .felt serving as common carrier ifor the wet web and the saturated web. l

As an example of a type of web too weak to thread but which may be handled successfully by the present machine and method: .A furnish of 20 parts kraft pulp and 80 parts 40-60 mesh sawdust are beaten together for one-half hour to open'up the kraft, and formed into a web .U10-.020 inch thick on the Fourdrinier end of 75 -4 the'machine described 'above. This web is not considered threadable in commercialY paper machines. lIt is passed continuously .into the saturating tank of-the satmating machine which tank may contain a 1,0' Baume sodium silicate solution. Afterfsaturation it passes to the makeup roll of the saturating machine, whereon it is wound to thicknesses varying from .1 25 to .250.

In these t cknesses and after having been com'- pressed b 'the action of the make-up roll, it-

may now be vslit and stripped from the make-up roll in a sheet. On drying, this sheet is a light porous strong insulating or wall board. If itis desired to make the 'material quite water insoluble, and toimprove its color, five parts of lhydrated lime may be added to the' furnish. If it is desired to make a dense iireproof board of very short fiber, C asbestos may be used in place of the sawdust. It will be appreciated that extremely weak'fiber combinations whichwhen they cannot practically be threaded from one machine to another, but which when built up on a make-'up roll, may be removed therefrom., can now be modified by treatment in-the wet web saturating machine in, similar manner to the strongerthreadable webs-used in the previously described separate saturating machine.

It is obvious that strongwebs whi h donot actuallyneed the continuous support iforded by a the present machine may be run in the same 'way as the weak webs.

stoppages and waste due to the breaking of the web between machines cannot'of course( occur in this combined machine.

The combination machine'is also advantageous in the'saturation of 4webswhose saturatability is decreased materially by compression or lowering of moisture content below that produced on the chines. However, as explained above, unless the.

web is kept in this condition and the fibers are allowed to remain separated aslfaras'necessary in the wet web, "s'atisfactory saturation willnot.

web forming machine. For example; highly, hydrated stock, which may be rope. rags, kraft, et cetera, will not saturate satisfactorily or in some cases at all with ordinary rubber latex-if` it has been passed through press rolls in the standardl paper machineline up before entering the saturating machine. The ilbers inthe surfaces of highly hydrated web pack down so closely and adhere to each other so tightly thatY on immersion in latex the only effect is 'the precipitation of a lm of rubber on the surfaces, similar to the effect of immersion of ordinary drypaper in latex.

For saturation with this and similar suspensions or emulsions where the suspendedd particles are .larger than the 'surface pores of a hydrated web it is necessary to minimize compression of the web and reduction of its mobile moisture content in order to obtain satisfactory distention oi! the lweb by the saturant and concomitant good sat uration.

Again, a fibers, containing a large amount of water is weak and heavy, and diillcult, if not occasionally impossible, tc'thread satisfactorily between matake place.

The present invention provides a suitable method and device for meeting these conditions,

and allowing thorough saturation of highlyhydrated cellulose fibers with desirable binders-in emulsion form such as latex, asphalt, 'et cetera. Inasmuchmas highly hydrated cellulose stocks when treated with latex, f o'r example',` showl marked toughness and strength superionto the An advantage is that Apregnated with a modifying material as a conloose web, even of hydrated cellulose :,oaaesv l saturated, siaed, coated or filledI fibrous structures, and it is to be expressly understood that 15 the inventionl is not limited to any particular class of modifying materials. Thus, for instance.

. the m yfying material may have binding properties, aterproonng properties, moisture-proofing properties, grease-proofingproperties, acid re-i 20 sisting characteristics, or it may be used to make the structure more rigid orv more flexible. The essential characteristic of themodifying material is that it be capable of being suspended or dissolvedin an aqueous vehicle. 25

Among the modifying materials contemplated for use in the present invention maybe cited4 asphaltemulsions,v rubber emulsions, including artiilciallyprepared rubber emulsions as well as rubber latex, rosin, glue, phenol/resin, starch, gelatin, et cetera.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of making a fibrous structure irnpregnated witha modifying material as a continuous operation, which comprises forming a 3:;

fibrous web from pulp in aqueous suspension upon a continuously moving fo minated surface, andy immersing said web while supported bysaid surface and prior to stripping therefrom by passing same through a permeating bath containing the selected modifying material in an aqueous vehicle to cause said web to distend'and induce modifying material thereinto while maintaining the originni/formation. l

2. A method of making a fibrous structure imtinuous operation, which comprises forming va brous web from' pulp in aqueous suspension upon a continuously moving foraminated surface, passing said webwhile supported by said surface and prior to stripping therefrom through anexcess 'of the lselected modifying material in anv Vaqueous vehicle whereby both surfaces are sub- 'j/ected tovsaid excess and the web is ca distend, and subjecting the web to pressure while the same is supported upon Vsaid surface to-,remove excess Vmodifying material and water therefrom. g

3. A' method of making a fibrous structure impregnated with a modifying.` material as a.A con- '60 tinuous operation, which comprises forming a fibrous web from pulp in aqueous suspension upon a continuously moving foraminated surface, passing said'web while supported by said surface and prior to stripping therefrom through a permeat- 65v ing bath containing the selected modifying material in an aqueous vehicle, subiecting the web to pressure while the same is supported upon said surface to remove excess modifying material and water therefrom, and thereafter stripping said web from said surface. 4. lIn a method of making a brous web where-' in pulp in aqueous suspension-is deposited on a continuously moving 'foraminated surface andthe v v excess water removed through. said surface to form a fibrous web thereon, the improvement which comprisespimmersing sai web whilestill supported upon said surface in bathl containing a selected modifying material in an, aqueous vehicle to expose `both sides of said web to said modifying material and inducel said'mcdifying material into theweb. f

5.' A device for making and impregnating brous material in a continuous operation, which comprises in combination a flexible foraminated i, surface, means for moving said surface in an endless path, means for depositing pulp in aqueous suspension on said surface and forming a fibrous mat thereon, a vat containing a permeatng liquid, and means for passing said mat while supported by said surface through the liquid in said vat whereby the mat distends and permeating liquid is induced thereinto while maintaining 'theH original formation of the mat.

6. A deviceformaking and impregnating i -brous material in a continuous operation which I comprises in combination, a fiexible foraminated surface, meansfor moving said surface in an endless path, means, for depositing pulp in aqueous suspension on said surface and forming a brous mat thereon, a vat containing a permeating liquid, means for -passing said Vmat while s'up'l ported by said surface through the liquid in said vat whereby thel vmat distends and permeating g liquid is induced thereinto while maintaining the original formation of the mat, and pressure means for expressing excess water and'lpermeating liq- 5 K uid from said mat while the upon said surface.

'7. A device for makingL and impregnating fl- Y brous material in a continuous operation which comprises incombination, a exible foraminated surface. means for moving `said surface in an. endless path, means for depositing pulp in aqueous `suspension on said surface and forming a fibrous mat thereon, a vat containing a permeating liquid, means for passing said mat` while supw ported by said surface through the liquid in said vat whereby the mat distends and permeating liquid is induced thereinto while maintaining the original formation ofthe mat, means for expressing excess water and permeating liquid from 20 -said matfwhile the same is supported upon said y surface, means for stripping said permeated mat J from, said supporting surface, and means for cleaning said surface after the mat has been l stripped therefrom.

same is supported IzADoR J. NoVAK. 

